Twitter is awesome, as it can spread breaking news incredibly efficiently and quickly. It is also a problem, as it can spread misinformation incredibly efficiently and quickly.
CNN’s Ali Velshi saw that firsthand this morning, after CNN confirmed that terrorism was not a factor in the shooting by the Empire State Building.
Velshi tweeted the following, leaving out a key word: “no”
To his credit, he quickly caught the error and deleted the tweet. More impressively, he seemed to respond to everyone that messaged him, correcting and apologizing along the way.
I have a responsibility to get it right. I deserve criticism for this. RT
@ronaldedmunds:@alivelshi@johnvmoore Leave Ali alonehe mis…— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) August 24, 2012
Just a friendly reminder: double check those tweets. Mistakes can (and do) happen to the best of us. When you are on-air talent, followed by thousands of people, misinformation can spread especially quickly.